What's on the menu Memorial Day?

[w_r_ranch]

Just wondering what the rest of you are planning...

I'm planning on smoking some 'Dinosaur Ribs', which is the ultimate in Texas carnivore meat. They will be served with baked potatoes, corn-on-the cob, stuffed japs & most probably pinto beans.

For those of you that aren't familiar with the term 'Dinosaur Ribs', they are big beef ribs.



I'm going to prepare the 'mop sauce' on Sunday & then prepare a batch of 'red mutha sauce' for serving on the side.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Here are the recipes for both the sauces:

Mop Sauce
A mop sauce is a thin basting sauce used during cooking (usually during slow smoking). It adds a little flavor, but primarily, it's used to keep the meat from getting dry during 'low & slow' cooks... Apply it about every hour or so.



1 Cup white vinegar
3/4 Cup beef broth
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. of your favorite rub
Tabasco Sauce, to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan & bring to a boil. Cool & place in a covered container in the refrigerator till ready to use. Makes about 2 cups.


Red Mutha Sauce
It is aptly named, as the mother of all sauces. It is sweet, tangy & spicy, with a smokey finish. This sauce takes some prep, however it is well worth it & delivers a lot of 'kick'... Trust me.



1/4 Cup olive oil
1 Cup onion (finely diced)
1/2 Cup green pepper (finely diced)
1 Jalapeño pepper (seeded & finely diced)
Salt & pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. fresh garlic (finely diced)
1 Can (28 oz) tomato sauce
2 Cups ketchup
3/4 Cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Cup white vinegar
1/4 Cup lemon juice
1/4 Cup molasses
1/4 Cup cayenne pepper sauce
1/4 Cup spicy mustard
3/4 Cup packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbs. Chili powder
2 Tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 Tsp. ground allspice
4 Tsp. liquid Smoke

Pour oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the onions, green peppers, jalapenos & season with a some salt & pepper & cook until the onions are soft. Add the garlic & continue sauteing for an additional minute.

Now dump in everything else EXCEPT the liquid smoke. Bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce simmers for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat. Now add the liquid smoke & let the sauce cool. Pour into a container & store it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Makes about 8 cups.

Enjoy!!!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Some of us may be cooking earlier than originally planned, they changed the forecast (could be a wet week)... I may be doing ours on Sunday instead.

 

[whistech]

Thank you for the recipes Mr. Ranch!

 

[Mike]

BBQ chicken on the grill along with mixed veggies also cooked on the grill. Then once the sun starts to set we'll have a fire in the fire pit cooking up some smores.

Hope everyone enjoys their long weekend, but also remember why we have this long weekend - the fallen hero's who paid the ultimate price for us.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Amen Mike... it is a day to remember the veterans that are no longer with us & to those that have yet to make the journey home (MIAs).

A Toast to Absent Friends
"to absent friends
to those we have met
to those we have yet to meet
to those who have left us for a while
and to those who have left us forever
let us lift our glasses and drink a toast
that they may abide in our hearts forever.
TO ABSENT FRIENDS"

May they all rest easy & never be forgotten...

 

[Rahab222]

Amen! My weekend's filled with high school graduations of cousins kids Saturday is the kickoff for these and will go through June 6th. I'm planning on somebody else doing the cooking.

 

[w_r_ranch]

OK, I got the sauce bottled up (2 quarts), the meat is prepped & seasoned, the beans are going & the smoker is ready to light. Mrs. Ranch said she would take care of the stuffed japs... Time to kick back.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Problem with cooking so many things for one meal is that it gets so hectic at the end. The good news was that the meal was killer!!! The bad news is there is no plating pic of it, only an 'after action shot'. Sorry...



BURP... Excuse me. Oh man, I'm stuffed...

 

[Rahab222]

Looks like it was really good. Any ranch dogs to toss those bones to?

 

[majorcatfish]

since this weekend was a little messed up we will do a cookout next weekend...
but last night was grilled chicken and a big salad from the garden ...

 

[w_r_ranch]

Looks like it was really good. Any ranch dogs to toss those bones to?

Dogs only get uncooked bones... Cooked bones splinter & can puncture internal organs.

 

[Rahab222]

Oh, that's good to know about rib bones splintering, as I give a couple to my garden dog, Lily, when we have them available. I guess true, farm dogs are tougher beasts, because we used to feed ours all kinds of scraps and they just kept going - happily!

 

[w_r_ranch]

ALL cooked bones will splinter... got nothing to do with "true, farm dogs" being tougher, they all bleed the same color & are subject to the same slow death.

 

[Rahab222]

Okay, so raw bones only. No chicken bones. I'd die if I lost my Lily; she's only six years old - the perfect age and perfectly trained by my brother.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Ours was not a typical American meal I guess

Falafel with tzatziki sauce for lunch

Kabobs (chicken marinated in teriyaki ginger marinade) for dinner

 

[ErnieCopp]

Mr. Yan,

You are getting pretty cosmopolitan there. Let.s see,. Persian with Greek sauce, and then Greek chicken with Japanese marinade.

That should certainly travel well, but maybe some Grits and gravy would round it out. I gain a lot of weight just reading about all the fancy foods you guys produce.

Ernie

 

[Mr_Yan]

Grits and gravy would round it out.

Would that be on a waffle too? I don't think I have ever had grits or would know when or how to eat let alone make them.

 

[Rahab222]

You eat grits with a spoon. Usually for breakfast, but any meal will do in the South Apparently, this site is causing you to think about cooking more, too. But it's hard to keep up with these guys.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Grits are made from ground up Hominy, which is made from corn soaked in Lye, but i grew up just a little too far North to have eaten grits as a child. We just had corn meal mush, but Grits is as traditional to the South as Falafel is to Arabs or kabobs are to Greeks.
I just used Grits and Gravy because of thhe alliterative sound.

I think we all enjoy eating what we grow a lot more than what we buy. I ate so many fresh veggies last night i did not leave room for any meat.

Ernie

 

[Rahab222]

That's it, Ernie. The vegetables from our gardens are so much more flavorful than what you can buy in the stores - even the organic produce stores. I LOVE having a grocery store in my backyard, knowing how it was grown and how it was fertilized/treated. I've also noticed that vegetables from my garden stay fresh longer than what you get in the stores, because of the early picking of crops, storage, transport and chemical treatments. There's nothing like fresh and this time of year through fall, I basically eat and use only the produce I grow.